Abstract:

The New Ottomans, who have resisted to the upper layers of an impoverished bureaucracy, emerged in the 1860’s and published many newspapers in the Ottoman Empire. This community had spread many ideas such as nationalism, patriotism, westernization, and freedom in the Ottoman society. The contribution of the New Ottomans to the transition period from the empire to the republic cannot be denied, their newspapers has played an important part in the spread of democratic ideas in society. Within the context of this study, the writings of the New Ottomans, the newspapers they published, and in particular Namık Kemal’s writings are discussed with the consideration of Hegel's spirit of the age concept, because without an adequate reference to the dominant characteristics of the age, the nature of this community cannot be grasped. The ideas that this community advocated and the reasons for its formation can be linked to the ‘spirit of the age’ because the New Ottomans have spread the ideas that have long prevailed in the world. They have defended concepts such as the freedom of the press and free thought, which are dominant in most parts of the world. Also the constitutional monarchy which has become dominant in the world has been proposed as a system that can function in the Ottoman Empire by these thinkers. 

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